Losing it all
by Zelek
Summary: Sly Cooper has lost alot in his life, but this brought him to the breaking point.


I had a sudden idea. Sly belongs to Sucker Punch. By the way, was reading Wikipedia and Sucker Punch's PS3 game, Infamous, has an Easter Egg of a movie poster of Sly 4 and a statement about them making a Sly 4 game in the coming years. Maybe 2010 and 2011, eh?

The infamous Sly Cooper sat gawking on the scorched stone wall yards away from the still slightly smoldering ruins of the place he once called home. The Happy Camper Orphanage he had grown up at had been burned down by one of its former inhabitants. He had been arrested on scene by the local police and after all the officials had left, he had come to see the only place he knew as home for so long.

He slid off the wall and into the burned bushes. The brittle branches snapped underfoot as he approached the ruins. The sun was just beginning to set, creating a red, pink, purple, and orange background to the building, seemingly setting the sky ablaze like the building had been just hours before. The pain was immense and Sly let out a sigh. He knew he'd have to visit Bently and Murray to tell them the news. At the thought of his two best friends, the stoic raccoon gave up and fell to his knees crying.

"Bent...Murr..." He whispered through choked sobs.

_After the defeat of Dr. M, Sly rose to his feet before Carmelita could reach him._

_"Cooper! Are you okay?"_

_"Yea...My head really hurts, but I'll be fine. Are you okay Carmelita?"_

_"Yes, I'm fine."_

_An awkward silence engulfed to two. The pair were lost in thought, trying to predict what would happen next. Each was wondering what the other was going to do next, each prepared to make a move._

_"So, this is it then?" Sly finally said._

_"That it is ringtail...You know I can't just let you go." Carmelita pulled up her shock pistol and aimed it. Sly smiled and shook his head._

_"You know I'd never have it any other way Carm." Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently, breaking Sly's confident smirk and alerting both him and Carmelita to the unstableness of the island._

_"Truce?" Sly said worriedly._

_"Truce! Let's just get the hell out of here!"_

_The pair began to run side by side as the cieling began to collapse in large chunks. As they ran, a particularly large part of the cieling gave way and smashed into the floor the chamber, shattering it. Somewhere under the chamber had been a large empty vacuum and the force of the falling cieling made the entirety of the floor give way. Sly made it to the hallway just before Carmelita and threw his paw out to her as the crumbling floor caught up to her._

_"JUMP!" Carmelita leapt forward and screamed as she watched the floor under her disappear into the abyss below. Her hand missed Sly's and Sly grabbed onto a torch-ring on the wall with his cane and leaned far out over the edge to grab Carmelita. He strained to pull them both up with his one arm, but managed to get Carmelita to the ledge, and she grabbed onto it and helped push herself up along with Sly's pulling. They collapsed next to each other and began to laugh at the passing danger. Their laughter was interupted however as the island began to rumble again._

_"Let's keep moving." Carmelita said. Sly nodded._

_"I couldn't agree more."_

_The pair of furs began to sprint down the hallway. _

_"Sly! Sly! What's going on?" Sly could hear Bently crying out over the binocucom. Before he could respond however, the transmission went static. Sly cursed in his head for the interference and continued to run next to Carmelita. Just ahead, he could see daylight and the duo burst through into the outside. A few minutes later, the entrance collapsed behind them and they watched as the mountain continued to slowly collapse into itself. As it did, Sly and Carmelita faced each other._

_"So, we once again have escaped the fate." Sly commented._

_"Indeed, but it's not over."_

_"How about another head start?"_

_"Oh no you don't ringtail, no pulling wool over me this time. You're not getting away."_

_"Who said anything about me getting away?"_

_"You're just going to incapacitate me in some manner like in Russia."_

_Sly shrugged and smirked. "Do you see any railings? Besides, you don't even have your handcuffs on you."_

_Carmelita realized he was right and looked at him curiously. "Then what do you intend to do to escape?"_

_"Nothing but take your breath away."_

_"Wha-" Before Carmelita could finish her question, Sly's lips were on hers. She slowly allowed herself to indulge in the wanton pleasure and pulled him closer as the kiss intensified. As they seperated, Sly smiled._

_"You're so beautiful Carmelita, you're just glowing...wait, glowing?" Sly noticed the red glow reflecting off her fur and looked towards the mountain to see molten lava pouring down the side. Carmelita noticed his sudden tenseness and looked as well and her eyes widened with fear._

_"RUN!" The pair once again took off sprinting into the island's jungle, fleeing the deadly flames that became to conflagerate the greenery. The heat of the flames licked their backs as they ran. Carmelita noticed a faint sound in the distance pulled Sly towards it. _

_"Come on! This way!"_

_"But-"_

_"Sly! There's an Interpol helicopter not too far from here."_

_Before he could argue, the volcano began to truly erupt and a pyroclastic flow burst down the side of the mountain where they had been standing only minutes before. The flow engulfed the entire side of the island and turned it into a barren wasteland. The pair ran out of the jungle and onto the beach where the helicopter turned towards them. Carmelita gasped in air as her tired muscles demanded oxygen. Sly stood staring at the glazed over side of the island that was still partly ablaze._

_"Sly...?" _

_"Bently and Murray..." He whispered._

_It took Carmelita only a few quiet moments to realize what had just happened._

_Bently and Murray had been in the way of the pyroclastic flow. Both she and Sly knew there was no way of possibly surviving that. She put her paw on his shoulder and he turned and started crying into her arms as the helicopter hovered just above the beach, kicking up a sandstorm. _

_"Come on Sly! The volcano is still highly unstable!"_

_The silent racoon stumbled onto the helicopter and Carmelita took a seat next to him as it lifted off. He watched as the island continued its self destruction and finally sunk beneath the waves. The other officers onboard watched as well. No one spoke for all knew what had just happened. The look of pain on Sly's face was unbearable for Carmelita to see. It was in that moment she decided she would do whatever it took to get him pardoned. Exhaustion overtook her before she could start off the conversation to inform him of this and she fell asleep._

_She was awoken by shouts of her fellow officers, she opened her eyes just in time to watch Sly leap from the helicopter. She leaned over the edge and watched him tumble earthwards. Finally, his parachute opened and she watched him disappear into the terrain below. But unlike before when he escaped, she knew he was truly alone._

_That was the last time she ever saw him._

Carmelita woke up from her daydream about the elusive ringtail as she turned on the news in her apartment. It had been a quiet Saturday off and she was enjoying just being home for once.

"In other news, the The Happy Orphanarium infamous for being the home of the wanted criminal Sly Cooper was burned down today by one of it's own children. The child, who remains unnamed, was suspected of being responsible for his own parents' death when their house burned down. The child is in custody and is being interogated by a child pyschiologist as we speak." Carmelita dropped the remote and stared at the screen blankly. She had been to that orphanage many a time and even volunteered there on the holidays. She had begun doing this in the three years after Sly's disappearence as a way of trying to connect to the fur she had fallen so deeply for. Suddenly, an thought came across her and she ran out her apartment with her car keys thinking of only one thing.

'He may be there!'

Sly walked along the orphanage's grounds, pausing to sigh deeply as he pressed his palm against the still warm metal of the monkey bars of the playground where he had met his two now dead best friends. He trudged forward still, the bottom of his jeans getting ripped on a piece of metal jutting out of the ground. Ever since their death, he had given up on thieving. He had tried afterwards, but whenever he went to steal something, he would think back on the days long gone when he had them behind him. He sat down on the now brown and dead grass and stared at the building and finally completely broke down. His tears flowed openly down his face as he bawled like a child.

"I've lost my family, my friends, and now my home. I can't even steal anymore. What do I have left God? Answer me!" Sly angrily yelled up at the now darkened sky in anger. In his fury, Sly failed to see the vixen standing against the wall behind him, her eyes were glassy with emotion as she saw him. He was thinner than before, and wearing normal clothes. He seemed like a shell of the once glorious and incapturable thieve he once was. Finally, she acted when she saw him pull out a knife and raise it. As he went to bring it down on his own chest, she grabbed his wrist and slapped it out of his hand. It flew through the air and landed point-end in the ground. Sly's clouded eyes became dazed as they were locked with Carmelita's glassy, yet furious ones.

"You stupid ringtail!" Carmelita snapped and punched him. He stumbled back and looked at her in shock.

"Carmelita..."

"Listen you stupid racoon. You've lost almost everything, but you still have me damnit! I love you Cooper!" Carmelita closed her eyes and blushed as she shouted out her confession in her own personal rage. She opened one eye slightly to gauge his reaction. He was standing, his jaw slightly ajar in shock. She took a deep breath and marched forward and grabbed him by the collar.

"All your flirting, all your little games with me, all the times you saved me, it took me losing you for so long and not chasing you to realize I was not only pursuing you for justice, my heart was chasing you. I want to be with you Sly. I'll do whatever it takes to make things between us work, just please...say something."

"Something...?"

She laughed slightly. "You smartass." She launched herself into his arms and kissed him happily. He responded feverishly, his lips pressing needingly against hers. Finally, she pushed herself off of him and breathed hard, looking straight into his eyes. He stared back, his face emotionless. Slowly, his face broke into a wide smile.

"I asked God what I have left..." Sly stepped toward Carmelita and ran his paw along her arm. "He sent me an angel to answer." Carmelita blushed.

"There's that blasted racoon I remember so much."

"Thank you Carmelita." He pulled her into a tight hug as the first stars of the night came out.

"Come stay with me Sly."

"But what about Interpol. I'm still wanted you know."

"Leave that to me, let's just get you home."

"Home? They say home is where the heart is Carm. Where ever you are, will be my home." Carmelita blushed as he whispered that into her ear. He laughed and interwined their fingers as they made their way towards her car parked outside the opened gates. He opened the door for her and as he slid around to the passenger side, he stared longingly at the orphanage one last time.

"Sly, let's go."

"Right Carm." Sly slid into the seat and closed the door. "Let's go home."


End file.
